Food dehydrators can be great to have in the kitchen. You can use them to make food last quite a bit longer since it’s the moisture within the food that often makes it spoil quickly. However, some people have reported problems with their dehydrators producing unwanted odors.
Do dehydrators smell? Under ideal conditions, a dehydrator will not produce an unpleasant smell. However, there are certain foods that will create bad smells if you put them in a dehydrator. There are also product defects in dehydrators that can lead to an unpleasant odor.
If you’re interested in getting a food dehydrator, you should do your research and find one that is less likely to create a bad smell. This way, you can enjoy your dehydrated food without having to deal with unpleasant odors while you are drying it.
What Do Dehydrators Do?
A food dehydrator does exactly what the name would suggest – it removes moisture from food. The purpose is to preserve the food so that it lasts longer. This method works to preserve different types of food, including fruits, vegetables, and meats.
A dehydrator utilizes a heat source to reduce the water content of the food. Once the dehydrator has removed moisture from the food, it will reduce the risk that bacteria will grow and spoil it. It also reduces the weight of the food quite a bit, which is why dried food is ideal for a camping trip
Typically, a dehydrator includes a heating element, a fan, food trays on what you can put the food, and air vents that allow for the circulation of air.
When the dehydrator warms the food, it causes the moisture to be released to the surroundings. Then, the fan within the appliance will blow the warm, moist air out via the air vents.
When you are dehydrating food, the goal is to get it to a point where the water content is substantially lower. Typically, the water content is between 80 and 95 percent for different fruits and vegetables and 50 to 75 percent for different types of meat. You want to get the water content to a point where it’s less than 20 percent.
What Makes Dehydrators Smell?
There are a few different things that can cause a food dehydrator to smell. You could have a malfunction with the equipment within the dehydrator, or the food within the dehydrator can end up creating an unpleasant odor.
When Can the Dehydrator Itself Smell?
Sometimes, with a new dehydrator, you will experience a burning smell. Many appliances do this when you first start using them. It can be a cause for concern, because you might be worried that whatever is emitting the fumes can end up contaminating your food.
If you are concerned about this, you can contact the manufacturer of your dehydrator and ask them what you should do in this situation.
However, this is an issue that is commonly reported with food dehydrators. People have also shared their experiences that this did not end up contaminating their food, and the smell did end up going away after a few uses.
You may think about cleaning the heating element in order to get rid of the smell, but you should keep in mind that the metal is porous in many of these dehydrators.
Because of this, whatever you use to clean the heating element will end up contributing to a new smell that the dehydrator gives off the next time that you use it.
When Can Food Inside the Dehydrator Smell?
In some cases, the food inside a dehydrator can smell as well. Dehydrators that don’t have fans are often culprits in this situation.
Fans are an essential component of a dehydrator, since they allow for circulation of air. If there is no fan, it’s more likely that the air will become stagnant and create an unpleasant smell. This could also affect the quality of the food you prepare using the dehydrator.
Because of this potential problem, it is a good idea to make sure that your new dehydrator has a fan. There are many options from which you can choose if you are looking for a dehydrator with a fan, including this one.
If food begins to smell inside a dehydrator, it is possible that the food is spoiled. You should check for other signs of spoilage, such as oozing liquid, visible mold, discolorations, chewy textures, or odd tastes.
In some cases, improper maintenance of a dehydrator can also lead to an unpleasant smell. This is the case when someone allows grease from the food that they put into the dehydrator to get into the machinery, such as the fan area.
In these situations, the residue can accumulate over time and lead to a bad smell, especially when it remains for a long time.
In some cases, you can remedy the situation by making sure to clean out the dehydrator. However, some people have found that even when they try to clean it out, the smell does not go away. In this situation, the best solution may be to get a new dehydrator.
What Foods Should You Avoid Dehydrating if You Don’t Want Bad Smells?
There are certain foods that you should avoid putting in your dehydrator if you want to prevent unpleasant odors. For example, you should make sure that any food that you put in your dehydrator is not spoiled or close to spoiled.
Onions are one food that is notorious for producing an unpleasant smell when in a dehydrator. The smell is powerful and is likely to linger not only in the dehydrator but also throughout your home, for a long time after you have dried the onions.
For this reason, it would be a good idea to put your dehydrator outside or in a garage or shed if you have to dehydrate onions.
Not only will the onions leave an odor throughout your house if you dehydrate them inside, but they will also leave a smell that lingers inside your dehydrator.
Usually, you’ll be able to get this out with warm and soapy water and lemon juice. However, you might need to repeat the process a couple of times.
Because of the smell caused by the onion dehydration process, many people would argue that it isn’t worth it. Instead, you might want to buy dehydrated onions from a store.
Final Thoughts
A food dehydrator can be an excellent investment. It can allow you to preserve food that would have spoiled very quickly without some way of removing the moisture. However, if your dehydrator smells, this can defeat the entire purpose.
If your dehydrator is producing an unpleasant odor, it would be good to figure out why exactly this is the case. Once you figure out the root of the problem, you can figure out whether or not it is solvable. If it is not something that you are able to fix, you may want to consider getting a new dehydrator.
Of course, there are certain foods that you want to avoid putting into a dehydrator in the first place. In some cases, these foods can cause a very strong unpleasant smell.
It is also possible that they can lead to a permanent smell within the dehydrator that could contaminate any future food that you try to prepare.
Overall, a dehydrator is not a very high-maintenance appliance to have in your kitchen. However, you just need to make sure that you use it properly and address any issues with odor that come up promptly. If you do this, you can enjoy your experience dehydrating food as much as possible.